College baseball roundup: Furman stuns USC, 6-5

Upstate pitcher Chris Cox threw a complete-game shutout to lead the Spartans past UNC Charlotte on Wednesday at Harley Park.

TIM KIMZEY/tim.kimzey@shj.com

Staff reports

Published: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 1:09 a.m.

In Greenville, Griffin Davis' pinch-hit RBI double in the eighth inning scored Alex Abrams from first base to break a 5-all tie that lifted Furman to shocking 6-5 upset over No. 11 South Carolina on Wednesday evening at Fluor Field.

The win gave Furman (17-11) a season split with South Carolina (23-7) and marked the Paladins' second victory over the Gamecocks in the last three clashes at Fluor Field.

Taylor Johnson (Greer) drove in three runs on three hits, including a two-run single in the third and a solo home run in the seventh that tied the game at 5.

Chris Ohmstede also homered for the Paladins, part of a 3-for-4 performance that raised his batting average to .415 (27 of 65) over the past 16 games.

Ben Carlson (3-1), who came on in relief in the seventh, earned the victory after pitching 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.

USC starter Forrest Koumas was tagged for three runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. Jack Wynkoop (4-1) took the loss after giving up Davis' RBI double.

<p>In Greenville, Griffin Davis' pinch-hit RBI double in the eighth inning scored Alex Abrams from first base to break a 5-all tie that lifted Furman to shocking 6-5 upset over No. 11 South Carolina on Wednesday evening at Fluor Field.</p><p>The win gave Furman (17-11) a season split with South Carolina (23-7) and marked the Paladins' second victory over the Gamecocks in the last three clashes at Fluor Field.</p><p>Taylor Johnson (Greer) drove in three runs on three hits, including a two-run single in the third and a solo home run in the seventh that tied the game at 5.</p><p>Chris Ohmstede also homered for the Paladins, part of a 3-for-4 performance that raised his batting average to .415 (27 of 65) over the past 16 games.</p><p>Ben Carlson (3-1), who came on in relief in the seventh, earned the victory after pitching 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.</p><p>USC starter Forrest Koumas was tagged for three runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings. Jack Wynkoop (4-1) took the loss after giving up Davis' RBI double.</p><p>Brison Celek led the Gamecocks' offense with two hits and two RBIs.</p><p><b>Clemson 4, Gardner-Webb 1:</b> In Clemson, Jonathan Meyer pitched seven stellar innings to propel the Tigers past Gardner-Webb (15-13-1).</p><p>Meyers allowed one run on five hits to improve to 2-0 on the season for the Tigers (18-11). Matt Campbell tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn his fifth save.</p><p>Garrett Boulware cranked out his fifth home run of the season and Thomas Brittle added three hits for Clemson.</p><p><b>USC Upstate 6, UNC Charlotte 0:</b> Chris Cox tossed a complete-game gem to propel the Spartans (17-11) past UNC Charlotte (17-11).</p><p>Cox (2-2) allowed just four hits and one walk in the shutout.</p><p>Trey Richardson blasted a solo homer and Tyler Miller and Gaiter Bumgardner each drove in two runs for the Spartans.</p><p><b>Auburn 7, Wofford 4:</b> In Auburn, Ala., Damek Tomscha drove in two runs and added three hits to help Auburn (17-12) down Wofford (13-18).</p><p>The Terriers were led by Seth Neely with recorded two hits and two RBIs. Matthew Kaskow also added two hits for Wofford.</p><p><b>North Greenville 12, Mars Hill 5:</b> In Mars Hill, N.C., the Crusaders pounded out a season-high 20 hits to cruise past Mars Hill.</p><p>Allen Staton and Tyler Mitchell homered and both finished with three hits for North Greenville (13-22). Frank Polino added a team-high four hits.</p><p><b>Limestone 7, USC Aiken 3:</b> In Gaffney, Michael Hughey (Gaffney) drove in two runs to help the Saints pull the upset against No. 10 USC Aiken.</p><p>Limestone improved to 19-16 with the victory. USC Aiken dropped to 27-8.</p>